Scuba Diver Finds Remains Of Missing Teenagers Who Went Missing 21 Years Ago

Nobody knew what happened to teenagers, Erin Foster and Jeremy Bechtel, after they went missing on April 3, 2000. Their whereabouts remained a mystery for over two decades until scuba diver Jeremy Sides found Foster’s car underwater in the Calfkiller River.

Foster, 18, and Bechtel, 17, were last seen in the former’s 1998 Pontiac Grand Am after they left a party in Sparta, Tennessee. Countless searches were conducted and plenty of leads were followed, but investigators could not determine the pair’s whereabouts for 21 years, according to Inside Edition.

"The whole investigation was laid out on the west end of the county," Sheriff Steve Page from the White County Sheriff's Office said. "That's where everyone assumed something bad happened, but that wasn't the case."

The investigation took a dramatic turn after Sides took it upon himself to search the Calfkiller River using high-tech sonar equipment. Sides is known on social media for posting videos on his YouTube channel, Exploring with Nug. “I dive rivers and lakes recovering lost or stolen property, clean up the waterways, and help bring closures to families in need,” he says on his YouTube channel.

Sides explained that vehicles usually vanish without a trace when they wind up in a large water body, according to NewsChannel 5.

"Every so often a case will pop up where somebody just vanishes off the planet and they disappear in their car. That’s an immediate red flag that chances are, they went into a body of water somewhere," Sides said.

He began his search for Foster’s Pontiac Grand Am in November. And on Dec. 1, he managed to find the vehicle 21 years after the teenagers were last seen inside it. The car was found 12 feet underwater and covered in mud.

"Everybody knew these kids, they went to school with them, you know," Sides said. "Half the police officers went to school with these guys, they were friends with them.”

The scuba diver’s discovery was a major breakthrough in the case that was unsolved for over two decades.

The vehicle was retrieved with the help of officers from the White County Sheriff's Office and Rescue Squad. Humans remains, that went through two decades of decomposing, were also found inside the vehicle.

Sheriff Page said it could take months for the depreciated car to be cleaned, according to ABC affiliate WKRN-TV News 2. It will also be a challenge for the remains to be positively identified.

Investigators will now try to collect as much evidence to determine what happened to Foster and Bechtel on the night of April 3, 2000.

“I think they were coming back to town and just run off in the water,” said Sheriff Page. “Can I confirm that? No. But, that’s absolutely what it looks like.”

The Sheriff also appreciated the scuba diver for finding the vehicle. “He done what nobody had done before — got in that part of the water and just found the car,” Sheriff Page said. “I prayed for this for years. I prayed that God would help me bring closure to White County and these families that miss their loved ones so much.”